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| Wednesday, April 23 Updated: April 24, 10:06 AM ET Vick or Randall? Too close for Hokies to call By Bruce Feldman ESPN The Magazine |
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This isn't one of those good news/bad news type of deals. Marcus Vick -- baby brother of you-know-who -- actually might be even a little better than Virginia Tech coaches hoped. Although, as impressive as Vick has been this spring, he still might not start the season as the Hokies' starting QB. The reason? Bryan Randall, who came off a stellar year in his own right, has taken a few giant steps of his own. Randall's main flaw coming into the spring was taking care of the football (despite completing 64 percent of his passes, his TD:INT ratio was a suspect 12:11), but Tech QB coach Kevin Rogers says the 6-foot-1 junior didn't throw a single pick in any of the Hokies' scrimmages or skeleton drills and has really taken his game to another level.
Does he have as electric an arm as Michael? No, but then again, nobody does. The guy is textbook. Marcus is still working on his mechanics (keeping his elbow higher on his release and making a better back-to-front weight transfer on his follow-through), but his arm is still one of the strongest one's in the Big East. He's also probably the nation's fastest QB. Credit Frank Beamer and his staff for warming Vick up for this spring. Last fall, the Tech coaches made a shrewd move keeping Vick as third-team QB, which enabled him to sit in on all game-planning meetings and absorb more of the Hokies system. The QB battle will resume in the summer. Although word out of Blacksburg is that even if Vick doesn't overtake Randall, he will play in Tech's opener. One other Tech note: keep an eye on DeAngelo Hall, the CB/PR who Beamer is also working at WR after seeing how Ohio State got such a boost from two-way star Chris Gamble. Hall caught four passes for 47 yards in Tech's spring game. The 5-11, 192-pound Hall isn't as rangy as Gamble, but he is faster and much more explosive. In fact, Rogers, a guy who has coached at Syracuse and Notre Dame, says Hall is the best athlete he's ever been on the same field with. "He's as good or a little better corner than (NY Giant Will Allen, a former Syracuse star) and he's bigger and more explosive than Marvin Harrison," says Rogers. "The guy's unbelievably explosive and he does have great hands, but he just doesn't have the polish Marvin has." The only question is will Hall have the conditioning and stamina to hold up as Gamble did?
Random notes That would be an understatement. Igor Olshansky, the Ducks 305-pound starting DT, says Vincent, the cousin of Pro Bowl CB Troy Vincent, seems a lot bigger than the 218 he's listed at. "He could be really special," Olshansky says. Then again, so could Kenny Washington, an ultra-smooth 205-pound junior who has battled injuries throughout his career in Eugene. The big if with Washington is can he hold up? He gained 58 yards on two carries before leaving with a sprained shoulder after his 53-yard burst. Bellotti also said he was pleased with the power Terrence Whitehead, the lone letterman of the four RB candidates. Whitehead managed 22 yards on nine carries. The other back, Ryan Shaw, the guy Bellotti calls "pound-for-pound" the strongest guy on his team, gained 28 yards on 10 carries. Despite the perception that Oregon is more of a passing school, it's worth noting that the Ducks have had five 1,000-yard rushers in the past six seasons. A stat made even more impressive when you consider that it's been done by four different tailbacks.
Still, both were pretty sharp in the Bears' spring game. Although the guy Tedford says he is most excited about is JC transfer Aaron Rodgers, who the coach says has everything he looks for in a QB. Rodgers doesn't arrive in Berkeley until this summer. One JC transfer who was there and turned some heads was linebacker Joe Maningo, who showed he could be one of the big-play men the Bears defense desperately needs after losing pass-rushing star Tully Banta-Cain.
John David arrives at USC July 5 after he finishes up an English class. Josh, whose fiancée has been modelling in the LA area, recently bought a house in nearby Hermosa Beach.
"Nick's very intelligent and has the ability to do some great things," Briles says. Briles' system is very QB friendly. It is a little like the old run-n-shoot although he uses tight ends and this scheme is more vertical. But it does feature a lot of passing and a lot of reading on the move, which is just fine with Eddy, "I'm OK with throwing it two yards to let my receiver run 60," he says.
"We were a little limited at tight end because Bo Scaife and Brock Edwards didn't participate due to injuries," says Longhorn offensive coordinator Greg Davis, "but David Thomas had a great spring. He did a great job for us. He's a tremendous athlete with great hand-eye coordination and is continuing to develop into a very good tight end. He can do all of the things we need the tight ends to do in our offense. He can block on the perimeter and yet he can go out and get open down the middle of a two-deep zone."
Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com. |
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